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Abscate Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014 Posts: 22575 Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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Posted: Tue May 17, 2022 12:45 am Post subject: Re: New to the family 2001 Eurovan Weekender |
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I glued mine back on firmly. I think I used contact cement? _________________ .ssS! |
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white_one Samba Member
Joined: January 04, 2022 Posts: 111 Location: California
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Posted: Sat May 21, 2022 7:02 pm Post subject: Re: New to the family 2001 Eurovan Weekender |
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She looks regal in her court!
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white_one Samba Member
Joined: January 04, 2022 Posts: 111 Location: California
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2022 10:43 pm Post subject: Re: New to the family 2001 Eurovan Weekender |
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Apologies in advance for venting....
I've been sitting (pun intended) on a seat restoration project for months. I ordered replacement foam seat bottoms for the front seats. I had read reports that ones from US were too small, so I purposely purchased them from a European dealer. Advertised as a replacement for 01 -03. They were on a 4 week back order, and took a further 4 weeks to arrive here.
The are not remotely the same size. They are both too short and too narrow. The shape of the wings isn't close - it's like they came from 2 different planets.
Local dealer shows the OEM bottoms are still available. Part number matches the one molded into the bottom of the existing cushion. I just ordered two. Back to the waiting game... ugh. |
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Joshwa Samba Member
Joined: November 18, 2015 Posts: 810 Location: North Seattle WA
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white_one Samba Member
Joined: January 04, 2022 Posts: 111 Location: California
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Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2022 3:16 pm Post subject: Re: New to the family 2001 Eurovan Weekender |
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OEM foam bottoms arrived today. My inclination that the aftermarket parts were a poor fit was correct. Here's a photo of 3 cushions. From left to right you see a used OEM cushion, a NOS OEM cushion, and an aftermarket cushion. The aftermarket cushion is 1 1/2" inches shorter than the OEM cushion, and 3/4" narrower.
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Zeitgeist 13 Samba Member
Joined: March 05, 2009 Posts: 12106 Location: Port Manteau
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Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2022 3:39 pm Post subject: Re: New to the family 2001 Eurovan Weekender |
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The aftermarket version looks like it was made for a smaller vehicle, like a Golf/Jetta. T3/T4 vans use a much wider seat base than most other VAG vehicles. _________________ Casey--
'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik? |
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white_one Samba Member
Joined: January 04, 2022 Posts: 111 Location: California
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Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2022 4:38 pm Post subject: Re: New to the family 2001 Eurovan Weekender |
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Sadly they all have the same part number |
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white_one Samba Member
Joined: January 04, 2022 Posts: 111 Location: California
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Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2022 9:05 pm Post subject: Re: New to the family 2001 Eurovan Weekender |
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Few beauty photos from camping last weekend. This is in the mountains above Calistoga CA, between Napa and Sonoma counties. Location was a hipcamp site.
And some seals - looking down from a cliff at the mouth of the Russian River.
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Abscate Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014 Posts: 22575 Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2022 11:40 pm Post subject: Re: New to the family 2001 Eurovan Weekender |
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Thats a nice mix of engine seals, male and female, and a few trans seals,too. _________________ .ssS! |
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white_one Samba Member
Joined: January 04, 2022 Posts: 111 Location: California
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2022 5:53 pm Post subject: Re: New to the family 2001 Eurovan Weekender |
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Haven't posted in a while, but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy with the van. Most recent completed project was rebuilding the front seats. The bottom foam was blown out, especially on the driver side. The driver side heating element needed installation on the seat back, and I suspected they were destroyed on the seat bottoms.
I don't have good before pictures, but here's some pictures of the carnage:
Old drivers side foam on top, new OEM on bottom. You an see how the drivers foam is falling apart.
This is a closeup of a door mat in the garage I was working on. The brown dust is the decomposing foam.
Here's the driver side foam in all it's glory. Yuck.
This is a stack of 3 destroyed foam bottoms - all are trash.
This is the bottom heater element from the passenger side. The drivers side was much worse.
Here's one of the heater elements I used (thanks Zeitgeist_13 for the pointer).
I initially wired these up same as factory. There is a rheostat built into the factor bottom heating element. I cut it out of the factory heating element, and soldered it into the new one
One issue I found is the factory heating elements are 5ohm, but the ones' I purchased were 10ohm. They are wired in series from the factory. I found they did not get hot. After measuring I realized I was getting only 6V - and then tracked down the resistance difference. I've wired them in parallel. They work great with the factory switches.
Here's the final result - looks just like a VW interior.
Compared to before, they are so much better. I sit noticeably higher in the driver side, and they are comfortable for hours (unlike previous). I also have the peace of mind of knowing there's not a fire waiting to happen. This project was well worth the aggravation of tracking down new seat foam. Just got back from 800 miles of comfortable driving in her. Also, for the first time since I've had her, there are zero holes in any interior upholstery!
Last edited by white_one on Sun Jul 17, 2022 5:56 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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white_one Samba Member
Joined: January 04, 2022 Posts: 111 Location: California
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2022 5:56 pm Post subject: Re: New to the family 2001 Eurovan Weekender |
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The resolution on the aftermarket seat foam is the seller refunded my money, but did not want me to send them back - shipping to europe was too expensive. So I have my money, and 2 foam bottoms I will not be using. PM me if you would like them - free - you just pay shipping.
white_one wrote: |
The are not remotely the same size. They are both too short and too narrow. The shape of the wings isn't close - it's like they came from 2 different planets.
. |
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white_one Samba Member
Joined: January 04, 2022 Posts: 111 Location: California
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Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2022 9:02 pm Post subject: NINA (was Re: New to the family 2001 Eurovan Weekender) |
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Time for an update.
My Van's name is Nina. She's been Nina since I got her. Never shared this, but it's high time!
She has been rock solid all summer. Multiple trips, but not many pictures.
Here she is being used as transport to a Rental house in Tahoe.
"Rafting" the truckee river - it's extremely low key
Mountain biking
Someplace along the way I replaced the headlights with Euro versions. So much better. I did not upgrade the wiring harness at the same time. Being able to see at night is a revelation.
I sold the old ones off locally on the cheap. They were practically new and will help keep another van on the road.
She's someplace in this picture. This is Lassen Volcanic National Park. Highly recommended. This park is absolutely empty.
Not a Eurovan, but seen locally. The license plate was truth in advertising.
The last part of my door RnR project was to replace the nasty old door pulls with new ones. So much better!
Old:
New:
I converted the passenger seat to a swivel seat. Makes the van much nicer at night - a place to sit before bed.
The AC had been making noise while on. The compressor was going out. Replaced in late in summer. It's much quieter now. I do not notice a difference in the operation of the AC. I swear she has a little more power than before.
Finally, a few pictures from Big Sur. Just got back this weekend. By far the biggest State Park campground I've seen, but it didn't detract from the trip.
Big Sur coastline:
Big Sur waterfall
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OB Bus Samba Member
Joined: February 09, 2003 Posts: 2531 Location: Ocean Beach in Beautiful BLUE California
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Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2022 7:07 am Post subject: Re: New to the family 2001 Eurovan Weekender |
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Lovely pictures!
And you sourced the door pulls from _____? Until I looked at the pictures of your new ones I did not realize how bad ours were. _________________ Larry in OB
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!
69 Westfalia and 2002 Eurovan Camper. |
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VanGeek Samba Member
Joined: September 25, 2022 Posts: 208 Location: New England
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Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2022 1:11 pm Post subject: Re: New to the family 2001 Eurovan Weekender |
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Those new handles look great. Like OB Bus, would like to know where you sourced them.
This is another option that I'm considering: https://retroretrims.co.uk/trimshop/en/vw-t4/63-t4...t_required
Available in vinyl or leather. For a semi-stock look can use light gray vinyl and light gray stitching.
Also a video here from a person who purchased them: https://youtu.be/ygjzSboAevs |
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white_one Samba Member
Joined: January 04, 2022 Posts: 111 Location: California
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Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2022 7:59 pm Post subject: Re: New to the family 2001 Eurovan Weekender |
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OB Bus wrote: |
Lovely pictures!
And you sourced the door pulls from _____? Until I looked at the pictures of your new ones I did not realize how bad ours were. |
I picked them up from Bus Depot. |
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OB Bus Samba Member
Joined: February 09, 2003 Posts: 2531 Location: Ocean Beach in Beautiful BLUE California
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Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2022 10:18 am Post subject: Re: New to the family 2001 Eurovan Weekender |
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white_one wrote: |
OB Bus wrote: |
Lovely pictures!
And you sourced the door pulls from _____? Until I looked at the pictures of your new ones I did not realize how bad ours were. |
I picked them up from Bus Depot. |
Thank you! Something I can ad to the birthday list...... _________________ Larry in OB
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!
69 Westfalia and 2002 Eurovan Camper. |
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white_one Samba Member
Joined: January 04, 2022 Posts: 111 Location: California
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Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2022 3:12 pm Post subject: Re: New to the family 2001 Eurovan Weekender |
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Here's a few beauty shots from yesterday's trip. This is Caswell Memory State Park. It's right along the banks of the Stanislaus River and was empty. There may have been 5 other campsites in use. Very quiet, very nice.
The river
Night shot
Beautiful campsite.
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white_one Samba Member
Joined: January 04, 2022 Posts: 111 Location: California
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Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2022 5:24 pm Post subject: Re: New to the family 2001 Eurovan Weekender |
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My steering wheel wore out. The plastic looked bad. More important, I could rotate the wheel in my grip. Time for an upgrade. I've seen some of the VW options, but decided I wanted to go for a stock look.
Here's the old wheel.
And the recovered wheel, prior to assembly
Installed!
It's an easy install, looks good, and feels good. |
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bikes! Samba Member
Joined: April 27, 2014 Posts: 93 Location: Central CA Coast
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Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2022 6:31 pm Post subject: Re: New to the family 2001 Eurovan Weekender |
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The recovered wheel looks great! Did you do that yourself? Or go to a specialist? |
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white_one Samba Member
Joined: January 04, 2022 Posts: 111 Location: California
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Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2022 9:35 pm Post subject: Re: New to the family 2001 Eurovan Weekender |
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I farmed out the recovering - it is beyond my skills. I used Craft Customs in TX. Found them through a web search.
bikes! wrote: |
The recovered wheel looks great! Did you do that yourself? Or go to a specialist? |
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